SOMALIA

SOMALIA / SOOMAALIYA - الصومال. 

Pan-African Telecommunication Circuit.
Simplified map of African continent.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 25.07.1971.
Face value: 2.50 Somali shilling.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printed by Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Roma.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 175.
- Scott No. 373.
- StampWorld No. 175.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 528.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 133.

The Pan African Telecommunications Network (PANAFTEL) was established by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). In 1968, a team of experts recruited by the ITU, based in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), carried out a preliminary pre-investment survey in the countries of North and East Africa. In 1969, a second team, based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), began similar work in West and Central Africa. The result of these works was a first telecommunications circuit between different countries, launched in 1971 through a network of cables and satellite dishes. This first attempt evolved in the following years and led to the creation, in 1999, of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) by 40 member states and 19 associated companies.